Paul Haig Day II

One of the worst things about my extended absence from blogging is I missed Paul Haig Day II so I'm doing this post now. I know it's very late but it's a worthwhile blog I think.

I'm not going to talk about Paul Haig though. I'll let his music speak for itself. Paul Haig Day came about because of the support Paul Haig and his manager, Evan, offered bloggers when we were having blogs deleted left, right and centre with DMCA notices. I don't want to talk about the retardness of the various workings of DMCA notices and Googles response to them because if I did I'd be typing all day. What's important here is that there was a musician and his manager smart enough to realise that bloggers are not evil and that plenty of people use blogs to find new music and spend money on artists they discover.

Now, Paul Haig's been recording music since the early 1980's, that's more or less all my life. But I wasn't aware of him. How I came to find out about him is pretty much the story of how blogs work for many people.

I'd recently discovered Hype Machine. So I was looking on it for Martin Stephenson and The Daintees tracks because everything I owned by them was on vinyl and I love Martin Stephenson's work. I grew up with my brother playing it all the time, I knew all the words to Big North Lights when my classmates were singing Rick Astley and Bros. I have awesome siblings. Anyway.

I found only one blog talking about Martin Stephenson. I was pretty happy, because it's one more than I thought I'd find. That blog was The Vinyl Villain (it's in my blog roll and if you haven't looked at it yet you should). I read through all the Martin Stephenson posts, (all the mp3s had been taken down) and then read more of the posts. I started checking it every day. From that blog I became acquainted with Paul Haig. And Paul Quinn. And more of Edwyn Collins' solo work and Orange Juice. And I rediscovered Prefab Sprout. And I really got into Arab Strap and discovered Malcolm Middleton and Aidan Moffat's solo work. And that really is just the tip of the iceberg. So many artists have had my money spent on them because of The Vinyl Villain.

Now, The Vinyl Villain is a great blog, but it's not the only one. I could give you lists from other blogs of new music I've gotten into, especially from music induced euphoria, Rollo & Grady, Destination: OUT and Jazz Note SDP (again, all in my blog roll). I know people have gotten into bands because of things I've posted. To me that's what blogs are really for, that's the function they are meant to serve and that's the value they serve.

So that's why I'm posting for Paul Haig Day II, even though it's very late. A great musician who understands what bloggers do. I hope you enjoy these tracks. While you're listening to them have a look at Paul Haig's official website.

Heaven Sent - Paul Haig

Justice - Paul Haig

Ghost Rider - Paul Haig